


nightmares

by cardcatchers



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Survivor's Club - Fandom
Genre: also the survivors club gang but they don't really say anything, this is some Angst baby!, tw for blood and some eye-related gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:03:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23341036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cardcatchers/pseuds/cardcatchers
Summary: It’s been years, but the nightmares still come more often than not.





	nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> again, tw for blood and some eye-related gore, but it's pretty light.

It’s been years, but the nightmares still come more often than not. Instead of ebbing away as time passes, they seem to spread and sour like bad alcohol left too long in the cellar. They started as an inescapable loop of the night Kawi died, leaving her trances restless and sporadic in the days and weeks and months after. As time progressed, her brain began to weave more creative tapestries, dragging her mother and sister through her mind as Kawi cried out and Lile and Fiero turned their backs on her. She’s gotten good at waking silently, out of self preservation in the wilds or out of respect for any neighbors she may have had.

Cal wakes like this in a dense, dark forest. Even her darkvision doesn’t make up for this lack of visibility, so she conjures some dancing lights as she stumbles to her feet. Her stomach turns when she looks down. The normally serene moonlight of her spell is harsh as it illuminates her friends' faces, frozen in pain and surprise as blood soaks the ground beneath them. She blinks, and their eyes have been pried out, leaving empty, gory sockets.

She wants to scream, or cry, or do _something_, but her breath feels brittle and frozen in her lungs. Before she has the chance to try and push through, to make a noise or cast a spell, she catches a shadow moving in the corner of her eye. It’s gone when she whips around, leaving only the echo of a cruel laugh before the woods are silent again.

Blood rushes in Cal’s ears as she spins, searching for the shadow. She’s disoriented and breathing heavy when she suddenly finds herself nearly chest to chest with a tall, dark figure. Bandages wrap around his neck and over his eyes, but even half obscured, Cal would know Kawi’s face anywhere. He’s warm and breathing and—alive? _That can’t be right_, Cal thinks before he’s crushing her in a hug.

“Cal,” he breathes onto the top of her head, and it’s so familiar she wants to _cry_, “what did you do?”

“I— I don’t—” she stammers. “How are you here? What happened to my friends?”

He pulls her in tighter, his arms like steel bars around her ribcage. “You said it wouldn’t happen again, Cal, and look at you. It’s even worse than before—_you’re_ even worse than before.”

Cal sobs at that, shuts her eyes and shakes her head. “No. No, no, I’m trying, I promise, I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened—” Hands clutch her arms and Cal looks up to see, not Kawi, but her own face staring back at her. She’s soaked in crimson, a feral gleam in her eye as she speaks in Undercommon.

“You don’t know what happened? We killed them, remember? This is our fault, _vallabha_.” The bloody hands gripping Cal’s shoulders shove her back, and she trips and falls into a pool of dark, cold water. Something unseen grabs her leg and begins to drag her deeper into the darkness. A force hits her chest, pushing the rest of the air out of her lungs. The more she tries to struggle to the surface, the stronger the creature seems to pull, and the faster she seems to sink. Cal can feel unconsciousness creeping in at the edges of her vision, and she watches the last bubbles leave her mouth before the dark takes over.

* * *

Cal bolts awake the next morning, gasping. Camp has been set up in an open, grassy field. Panicked searching reveals all of her friends peacefully and safely sleeping on their bedrolls, just feet away from Cal. The smoldering remains of last night’s fire sends a gentle stream of smoke drifting into the air. After taking a lengthy moment to steady her breathing and survey her party, Cal sets about her morning prayers.

**Author's Note:**

> keep in mind a) this is a nightmare and b) Cal is an unreliable narrator, so none of this actually gives away any beans that you don’t already know. thanks for reading ;)


End file.
